Blending and reclaiming apparatus



Aug. 3, 1954 c. 1... HUNTZINGER BLENDING AND RECLAIMING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2, 1951 INVENTOR CHARLES 1.. HUNTZINGER M 7 ATTORNEYS Aug. 3, 1954 c.-1 HUNTZINGER BLENDING AND RECLAIMING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1951 INVENTOR CHARLES L. HUNT'ZINGER ga /M 9 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 3, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE BLENDING AND RECLAIMING APPARATUS Application March 2, 1951, Serial No. 213,525

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the handling of material requiring to be made available for use in a substantially uniform, blended condition representing an average of the varying assays of incoming supplies of the material. As disclosed in Patents Nos. 858,008 and 2,171,528, for example, a general method or system appropriate for the purpose involves the laying out of the incoming material in a multitude of successive, superimposed layers to build up a large pile, and then, the removal of the material progressively from the end of the pile in successive slices or cuts, more or less parallel to the end face of the pile, every such slice or cut necessarily comprising an average or blend of a short, horizontal length of all of the layers.

The initial laying out or layering of the material is conveniently effected by means of a socalled belt tripper, and the subsequent removal of the material from the pile by a so-called reclaimer.

By reason of the enormous sizes of the piles otherwise required (as, for example, of the coal needed to supply a steel mill) some economy as regards the space occupied by the material itself has been proposed to be achieved by confining the piles between walls, or in an enclosure, as shown for example in Patent No. 1,389,184. But the use of an enclosure created new problems of space requirements with respect to the arrangement and manipulation of the reclaimer and the mechanism required to get the material out of the enclosure and to its destination.

The present invention contemplates a system serving the general purposes of the arrangements above referred to, but achieving the results in a manner enabling the capacity of the system capable of being installed in any given area to be vastly increased.

In the preferred form herein described for purposes of illustration, the invention incorporates sundry more specific improvements and advantages, as will appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a broken out, longitudinal, partiallysectioned view of an enclosure, with a reclaimer and associated mechanism embodying the pi eferred form of the invention; and Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the enclosure of Fig. 1 on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In these drawings, there is shown a form of enclosure which includes not only side walls, with their attendant advantages as presently brought out, but also a roof structure, which is the preferred arrangement. This enclosure, which may be one of a series of adjoining units, comprises a rear wall I, and side walls, generally designated 2 and 3, supporting a suitable roof 4. Against the rear wall I (see Fig. 1) there is built up a suitably inclined face 5 which acts as a backing for the pile 6 of material to be reclaimed, the slope of wall 5 approximating the angle of repose of the material and hence making it convenient to reclaim the pile virtually in its entirety, as will be understood. The sides of the pile are confined by what for convenience will be referred to as confining wall sections which extend up only part way of the height of the enclosure and the tops of which wall sections may conveniently serve as a track bed for the reclaimer, as presently described. As shown in Fig. 2, the left-hand confining wall section 1 is incorporated in the structure of side wall 2; whereas the right-hand confining wall section I' is in the. nature of an auxiliary wall, inwardly spaced from the roof-supporting side wall 3. This latter arrangement provides undercover space, on that same side of the enclosure, for a longitudinally extending belt conveyor 8 which, as described below, may serve to receive the reclaimed material and transport it to the outside of the enclosure or as may be desired. The enclosure further includes a floor which is made of any suitable material, such as reinforced concrete, or it may be a packed pervious base, capable of withstanding the loads imposed by the pile of material 5 and the reclaiming mechanism. In the form illustrated, the floor incorporates a series of sloping-sided, fiatbottomed channels 9 paralleling the side walls and extending throughout the length of the enclosure.

The roof 4 incorporates a structure H) which runs from front to rear of the enclosure and houses a belt tripper designated generally by the reference character II. This belt tripper, which may be of any appropriate construction, acts in the known manner to spread incoming material over the length of the floor and thus build up the plurality of layers of which the pile 8 is composed. Byusingside. walls to confine the pile, it will be recognized that a pile of large capacity can be built up on a relatively limited floor area, as contrasted with the space required for the usual unconfined pile.

To enable the pile of material to be reclaimed and discharged without loss of the space saving achieved by the enclosure, there is provided a special reclaimer which is capable of operating wholly within the limits of the enclosure.

In the drawings, the reclaimer is generally designated l5 and in common with such apparatus as already known, there is mounted on the front of the reclaimer a suitable form of harrow mechanism I 6 which progressively attacks the exposed face of the pile of material. The harrow extends down to a point adjacent the floor, that is to say, close enough to it to bring down to the foot of the pile and into the channels 9, slices of all of the layers of which the pile is composed. The harrow is usually adapted to be oscillated laterally with respect to the face of the pile and the harrow mechanism illustrated can be assumed to be of that character. Also as usual, the harrow is indicated as capable of being raised or lowered by cable H to adapt it to the slope of the particular material being handled.

The reclaimer [5 consists of a carriage structure or chassis provided with wheels and adapted to be self-propelled. In this preferred form the carriage wheels i8 project at the sides and toward the upper end of the reclaimer to run on elevated tracks I9 suitably supported clear of the pile of material, as on the tops of the confining side wall section 1, 7. The reclaimer is thus suspended at an appropriate height to give maximum stability and can be traversed back and forth, longitudinally of the enclosure, as by a diagrammatically illustrated motor and transmission 21. Being mounted wholly above the pile, the tracks remain clear of obstruction by the material being reclaimed. A hoist motor for the harrow is indicated at 22 and a motor for oscillating the harrow at 23. It will be understood that after the material in one enclosure has been reclaimed, the reclaimer can be backed completely out of that one and moved over to reclaim a similar, adjacent bed.

Mounted side by side on the reclaimer and depending to the floor -(into the floor channels, in this instance) are a number of bucket elevators, generally designated 25. They are all alike and the description of one will serve for all. Each elevator comprises an endless chain or chains 26 trained around upper and lower front and rear sprockets 21, 28, 29, 30 and carrying buckets 3! which depend close to the floor or to the bottoms of the floor channels if the door is so formed, behind the base of the harrow. It will be apparent that if the floor itself is fiat, the buckets themselves will scoop up the material in rows, leaving more or less V-shaped intervening piles shaped according to the angle of repose of the material. A drive motor for the chains is indicated at 32 and, as will be understood, the buckets at the lower ends of the conveyors are advanced to scoop up the material brought down to the foot of the pile by the harrow, to lift it through the forward, vertical run of the chains and dump it as the buckets assume their horizontal position at the tops of the elevators.

Also mounted on the reclaimer chassis is a transversely operating conveyor, located to receive the material dumped by the elevator buckets. It is shown as comprising a belt 35 supported below the upper run of the buckets by troughing idlers 36 and chutes 3? serve to receive the material from the buckets and guide it onto belt 35. Being mounted within the space defined by the path of travel of the buckets, the chutes and transverse conveyor can be readily accommodated without interference with the elevators and ample space can be provided to accommodate a belt of a width adequate to meet the needs of a large capacity system. Furthermore, the transverse conveyor is conveniently extended out through the open end of the space defined by the path of travel of the buckets and, being mounted above the tops of the pile confining wall sections 1, i, is positioned to discharge the material at one side of the bed, whence it may be removed as convenient. Preferably, as shown, the material is dumped into a chute 38 (Fig. 2) which guides it to the longitudinal conveyor 8, mentioned above. Thus, as the reclaimer is advanced, the blended material may be continuously brought down by the harrow, picked up by the buckets and transported and delivered by the transverse and longitudinal conveyors.

As will now be apparent, the principles of the invention are susceptible of embodiment in various forms to suit the exigencies of any particular installation, and hence the details described are to be understood to be illustrative only.

In the premises, the following is claimed:

1. In a system of the character described, the combination of an elongated receiving floor bordered by an end wall and confining wall sections along two sides; a longitudinal conveyor mounted above the floor level on the outer side of one of said sections and extending throughout the length of the floor; tracks mounted on the tops of the confining side wall sections; a wheeled carriage supported on the tracks and depending to a point adjacent the iioor; a harrow mounted on the front of the carriage also extending to a point adjacent the floor; a conveyor mounted on the carriage transversely of the tracks and at one end extending over one of said wall sections into discharging relation to the longitudinal conveyor; a series of endless chain, bucket e1evators mounted side by side on the carriage behind the harrow with the planes of their paths of travel paralleling the tracks and their said paths encircling the transverse conveyor, the lower run of the buckets extending along the floor toward the base of the harrow and the series of buckets extending across the full width of the receiving floor; and chutes mounted on the carriage in receiving relation to the upper run of the buckets and in discharging relation to the transverse conveyor.

2. In a system of the character described, the combination of an elongated receiving floor bordered by an end wall and confining wall sections along two sides; a longitudinal conveyor mounted on the outer side of one of said sections and extending throughout the length of the floor; tracks extending longitudinally of the confining side wall sections; a wheeled carriage supported on the tracks and depending to a point adjacent the floor; a harrow mounted on the front of the carriage also extending to a point adjacent the floor; a conveyor mounted on the carriage transversely of the tracks and at one end extending over one of said wall sections into discharging relation to the longitudinal conveyor; a series of endless chain, bucket elevators mounted side by side on the carriage behind the harrow with the planes of their paths of travel paralleling the tracks and their said paths encircling the transverse conveyor, the lower run of the buckets extending along the floor toward the base of the harrow and the series of buckets extending across the full Width of the receiving floor; and chutes mounted on the carriage in receiving relation to the upper run of the buckets and in discharging relation to thetransverse conveyor.

3. In a system of the character described, the

combination of an elongated receiving floor bordered by an end wall and confining wall sections along two sides; a longitudinal conveyor mounted on the outer side of one of said sections and extending throughout the length of the fit or; tracks extending longitudinally of the confining side wall sections; a wheeled carriage supported on the tracks and depending to a point adjacent the floor; a harrow mounted on the front of the carriage also extending to a point adjacent the floor; a conveyor mounted on the carriage transversely of the tracks and at one end extending over one of said wall sections into discharging relation to the longitudinal conveyor; a series of endless chain, bucket elevators mounted side by side on the carriage behind References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 719,119 Hurry et a1 Jan. 2'7, 1903 854,626 Blaisdell i May 21, 1907 1,448,458 Millard et al Mar. 13, 1923 2,579,153 Meissner Dec. 18, 1951 

